Astros offer no apologies for aggressive ways after loss to Rangers

He wants the game played his way. He requires smart hitting, smooth fielding and aggressive baserunning.

The Astros failed in all three areas during critical moments Sunday. And even after his team had ended three innings with baserunning outs during a tight 5-4 loss to the American League West-rival Rangers at Rangers Ballpark, a first-year manager trying to set a long-term professional tone refused to give in when asked if his club had tried too hard to set its own agenda during a defeat that handed a three-game series to its in-state rival.

“We’re an aggressive ballclub. And I’m never going to have our guys feel like they can’t be aggressive,” said Porter, whose team dropped its 19th series of the season, again fell 25 games below .500 and is on pace for 104 losses with five tough road contests against St. Louis and Tampa Bay remaining before the All-Star break.

“It’s one of those things where if you run-and-hit or hit-and-run, if the ball is put in play, great,” Porter said. “If the ball is not put in play, the guy is probably going to be out. It’s one of those things where you push the envelope because you’re looking to ignite the offense.”

The Astros (32-57) entered Sunday ranked 29th in on-base percentage (.294) and 28th in batting average (.235). With a club that’s 4-11 in its last 15 games regularly relying on home runs (88, 15th in MLB) to dig itself out of offensive droughts, Porter has often attempted to fire up the Astros since spring training with an up-tempo attack on the bases. Only one player (Jose Altuve, 21) has more than nine stolen bases, however, and many of the Astros are average runners at best.

On Sunday, a winnable game against an inefficient Rangers club that coughed up a 3-0 first-inning lead and allowed the Astros to tie the contest at 4 in the top of the fifth ended up being washed away by mental miscues and aggressive baserunning that backfired at the worst possible times.

String of costly miscues

In the second inning, rookie Marc Krauss blasted a 3-2, 92 mph fastball 404 feet to deep center field for his first MLB home run, pulling the Astros within 3-2. With Rangers rookie Justin Grimm (four innings, six hits, four runs, 83 pitches) clearly struggling, Brandon Barnes took off for second base with one out. Matt Dominguez swung through a 2-2 pitch, and Barnes was easily thrown out at second to end the inning and the Astros’ threat.

In the fourth, the Astros again pulled within one run when J.D. Martinez’s two-out RBI single to right-center field made it 4-3 Rangers. But Martinez was picked off at first, again allowing Grimm to stay in the game.

The fifth was a repeat of the second. Two Rangers throwing errors allowed the Astros to tie the game at 4. Reliever Cory Burns took over for Grimm, but Brett Wallace struck out and Jake Elmore was thrown out at second to finish off the Astros’ best opportunity of the day.

Among all of the negative statistics this season — a club with the worst record in baseball is at the bottom of the league in ERA and offensive strikeouts and 29th in OPS — the fact the non-speedy Astros lead MLB in times caught stealing (30) may be the weirdest of them all.

“Those are situations where you’re putting the guy in motion based on the fact that you believe a guy’s going to put the ball in play, and it’s more of a run-and-hit than it is a hit-and-run,” Porter said.

The Rangers (51-37) answered in the bottom of the fifth with a Nelson Cruz RBI single — a run set up by leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler’s reaching first on a ball that went beneath second baseman Altuve’s glove — and the Astros spent their final 12 outs striking out six times and leaving two men on base.

“I felt like we had some chances offensively,” Porter said. “We just weren’t able to come up with the big hit.”

There were two highlights for the Astros. Martinez went 3-for-4, raising his average to .256 during a season in which he’s quietly continued to assert himself as an everyday player.

Krauss had the best moment. The rookie, a June 20 call-up from Class AAA Oklahoma City when Trevor Crowe was placed on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, is 4-for-8 during his last two games with four RBIs and seven total bases.

Not all negative

During a day dominated by former No. 2 starter Lucas Harrell’s demotion to the bullpen, the 25-year-old Krauss offered a reminder of what the Astros’ 2013 season was supposed to be about.

As Krauss answered questions from reporters about his first big league homer — the ball was placed in a Ziploc bag, then safely stuffed inside an Astros travel bag — teammates Chris Carter and Barnes stared up at the 6-2, 235-pound former football player, trying to get the large rookie to break his concentration.

Carter then fired off his own questions for Krauss, jokingly mocking the mundane media: What did you see? What did the pitcher throw you? How did it feel running the bases? Was your family here? How many texts did you get?